Velocity
Velocity - Compose’s Variable Data Engine
At Compose we understand Variable Data Printing is part of our life, it is around us for so long that we almost take it for granted, like using our credit cards, getting bills from our utility company, bank statement from our local bank.
Labels on our jacket in department stores, cinema ticket that we order online, Airline baggage tags that stick on our bags when check in, so on and so on. This list can be so long that it is hard to see the end of line.
Velocity is a powerful and yet user friendly application that specialized in variable data printing market. It enables users to merge high volume personalized data such as text, image, barcode, at the speed of the printing speed. One thing unique about Velocity is, its performance is independent of the output printers. It supports all the high speed printers like Xerox, HP Indigo, Xeikon, Ricoh, OKI, Canon and Konica Minolta.
With Velocity, you can use your own layout design and database, such as Excel, Access files, or Oracle, SQL, DBF with ODBC help, to make personalized documents easily and efficiently. It is highly suitable for producing commercial documents, personalized cards and marketing materials for the industries such as finance, insurance, automobile, telecom, school, real estate, restaurant, government, etc.
 Why do you need personalized printing? A recent industry study by CAP Ventures shows that personalized printing has a 36% increase in response rates over traditional direct mailing. The average value of order is nearly 25% larger and response times are 34% faster. Moreover, personalized printing results in a nearly 48% and 32% rate of repetitive orders.Â
Velocity Features
Velocity is designed to be easy to understand and use, it follows the industrial methodology when it is applying draw and design function. Anyone with a bit of Coral Draw or Illustrator experience can pick it up in no time at all.
Velocity is a layout tool in its core, providing a solution which user can define a job as a single sided job or double sided, option is also available to make it as a multiple page document. Users can use a background from a previous design or customer’s design for positioning, shorten the designing time. Jobs can be designed based on different irregular shapes.
Die lines can be designed together with the Jobs, allowing a die to be made at the end of imposition process. By choosing a separate spot color for the die line, Velocity can help to gang multiple artworks together to make a die for multiple labels.
Text, color, and images
Text will be fully justified, quad to the left, right and center in any given box. Typefaces and point sizes change will be allowed at any time.
Color can be selected as a static color at any position, Velocity will be providing a color swatch book allowing designer to get what is needed on within the same software.
Images can be placed by automatically re-sized to fit into the dedicated area, it can be designed to fit the vertical or horizontal direction depending on the requirement.
Bar codes and QR codes are also supported; sizes can be varied depending on the design requirement.
The most powerful feature on Velocity is the use of Boolean logic to create new variable field, providing a new dimension on Hang Tag, labels, post cards, envelopes, tickets, . . . it is based on Scripts, which Compose will provide a library of pre-defined Scripts. All the designer has to do is call and re-configure it.
Have a job single sided, or double sided will allow post Cards, or greeting cards easily managed. Multiple pages document containing variable data can also be constructed with easy. Allow designers to meet the constant change in market environment.
Additional features for Velocity version 2
Imposition for Sheet & Roll
Velocity 1 allows you to create the variable data document. Velocity 2 goes further by allowing you to setup the sheet that the variable data document will be printed on, and will automatically impose the document pages on the sheet according to your imposition settings.
You can impose different variable data records on the same sheet. You can also step and repeat the same record to fill the sheet. If the database also contains the print quantity for each records, Velocity will also generate enough sheets to fulfill the print quantity.
You can configure the size of the sheet (or roll), the margins around the sheet, and the gutters between records.
If you have the Advanced Imposition Options, you can also specify from which corner the flow of records start and the flow direction, the relative orientation of each record, or whether you want the imposition to be for cut & stack.
Advanced Imposition for Variable Data Records
In addition to specifying the number of rows and columns, margins and gutters, etc., the Advanced Imposition Option also provide full control on the imposition layout, including –
• the position of the first record,
• the flow direction for subsequent records,
• the relative orientation of adjacent records.
In addition the user can add marks for each record or for each layout, including trim and registration marks, eye marks, custom marks, label text. Velocity 2 also supports the Scodix marks required by Scodix Digital Print Enhancement Press.
Cut and Stack
For imposition on sheets, the variable data records can be arranged in a cut & stack order either from top to bottom or bottom to top
Start at
For all types of impositions, rolls or sheets, the user can specify the first record to start at the top-left corner of the sheet or roll, top-right corner, bottom-left corner, or bottom-right corner.
Direction
The direction of how the record flow on the sheet or roll can also be specified. It can go from left to right (or right to left) row by row, or top to bottom (or bottom to top) column by column, or zigzag i.e. from left to right, then right to left, and so on.
Orientation
The user can also specify the relative orientation of adjacent records. The records can all be in the same orientation by default. Or adjacent rows or columns can be rotated by 180 degrees. Or in a checker arrangement where the one to the right and bottom are rotated by 180 degrees.
Color Swatch Library Management
Velocity version 1 provides one swatch library where all color swatches are stored, regardless of whether they are for specific projects or for general usage. There is also no spot color libraries such as the Pantone color books.
Version 2 provides much more powerful management of swatch libraries.
Document, Application and Standard Libraries
In Version 2, when creating a new swatch, whether normal (static) or variable color swatches, the user can specify that the swatch is to be created as a document swatch. Document swatches are stored with the document and is only active when the document is opened. This can make sure you have the right color swatches when you open a document, and reduce cluttering of your application swatch libraries.
If a swatch is for general usage, the user can specify that it is to be added to the Application library. Application swatches are loaded with the application and can be used with any opened documents.
It is possible to convert a document swatch to an application swatch, and vice versa.
Version 2 also provides the default color swatches that come with Version 1 as the Standard swatches, so that the commonly-used colors are available by default.
Pantone Swatch Libraries
In addition, Velocity 2 allows the import of Pantone color libraries from Harlequin RIP v11 or above. The imported Pantone colors are saved in the device independent CIE-L*a*b* colorspace. The imported libraries can be displayed in the Swatch panel and users can enter the Pantone number or partial Pantone number to easily find the required Pantone color.
Using the New Swatch Panel
Users can at any time chooses to display the document, application, standard and imported swatch libraries, or to display all libraries. The new search function provides an easy method to locate any color.
Object Management with Layers
Version 2 comes with a new LAYERS panel providing full support for element placement on layers.
Users can create layers as needed and place elements on the layer.
Existing layers can be made visible or hidden to make it easier for editing complex layout and to make it possible to print or not print elements on layers.. Specific layers can be made visible with all other layers made invisible with an ALT-click on the visibility icon.
Layers can also be locked to prevent editing. Specific layers can be unlocked with all other layers locked with an ALT-click on the lock icon.
Order of layers can be re-arranged easily by drag and drop or by selecting a layer then click the appropriate buttons to move to the top, move up one layer, move down one layer, or move to the bottom.
Variable Data from Multiple Databases
Velocity 2 now support more than 1 database per job. You can have as many databases as you like and you will be able to use the data from multiple database within the same Velocity job in regular variable fields or in scripts!
But there are more –
• Velocity 2 also supports more delimiters
• If the delimiter you are using is not in out list, don’t worry because you can also customize the delimiter you need
• The text qualifier can also be customized.
• If you database contains Unicode characters but the database file doesnt containing any encoding format, you can also manually choose the encoding method so Velocity can understsand your database file correctly.
Automate Velocity with Channels
If you are processing the same variable data job over and over again with different data, you now have a much easier and faster way to process these jobs using Channels.
Create a channel with the template of your job, set an input folder for the database files, and an output folder for the output PDF. Start the channel and save the database file in the input folder and Velocity will automatically fetch the template and the database, merge and generate the output PDF files.
Other Great Features Creating a Document from Template
Version 2 documents can be saved as a template. The template will retain all design elements including the layout,, the color swatches, variable swatches and scripts, as well as the imposition setup. When you have received an re-order for a job you did before, you can create a new document using the template for the job – all design elements are retained. You only need to connect to a new database for the new order and print.
Creating Text Outline
Sometimes you will need to outline the text for finishing options. Velocity 2 provides a new feature to convert specific text blocks to outline. For example, if a specific text block in your document needs to have varnish and the varnish machine requires outline, you can select that text block and simply check Create Outline and the text will be converted to outline in the output PDF file.
The text outline function is fully unicode – Roman and Chinese, Japanese and Korean fonts are supported.
Setting Document from the Background Image
Many users create the static part of the variable data document in Illustrator, then import the PDF into Velocity as the static data background. Velocity 2 make it easier by adding the Background Image setup directly in the Document Setup dialog, so that you can add all the page background images when creating the variable data document.
Hot Keys
Power users prefer to use hot keys to speed up the editing speed. You will be glad to know that we have added more hot keys, and if you are Illustrator power users as well, note that Velocity is using the same hot keys as in Illustrator, so that it will be easy for you to learn to do things much quicker in Velocity 2.
Enhanced Color QR Code (Option)
With Compose Enhanced QR Code, you can generate QR codes that are personalized with colors and logo images. You can fully customize every aspect of the QR code, including the shape and colors of the finder pattern and modules, filling the QR code with flat color, gradient or image pixels, and embedding your logo image as part of the QR code.
FINDER PATTERN SHAPE
Change the finder pattern to one of the 15+ shapes available.
QR CODE COLOR
Fill the QR code with flat color, gradient or based on an image but turn into pixel data.
FINDER PATTERN COLOR
Change the color of the finder pattern.
LOGO IMAGE
Add your company logo to the QR code.
Readability Assistant
Enhanced QR Code makes it easier to generate readable QR codes, with the ability to suggest the best print size according to redundancy level, scanning environment, and the scan distance. You will also be able to check the scan-ability after colorizing the QR code using the included tonal contrast calculator.
Output Formats
QR codes are generated as PDF, JPG and PNG files.
Built for Velocity
The Enhanced QR Code function is included in the latest version of Velocity, the powerful but easy-to-use variable document creation software from Compose.
Download PDFÂ introduction to Color QR code.
Velocity ties with Compose solutions
Velocity is tied with Several of Compose’s solution. The well known one is the Hang Tag solution which Hang Tags are calculated based on the order sheet. It is then calculated what is the most optimized arrangement to save media and minimum number of plate to keep the cost of plate and print count to a minimum.
It can also be used in Label Printing, allowing labels can be printed with a serial number or date on before it is applied. It can also tie with Envelop printing which address and name can be printed. Applying the Boolean logic together it will give a lot of variation for customer to take advantage the envelopes for production.
It can also tie with Easy Book, and several of our print solution, including the new PrintXPress which we can print variable data based on the template setup.
Summary
- pdf as an intermediate format,
- Simple interface and Easy-to-use
- Complicated Variable Data Format
- Strengthen customer relationship
- Ideal Variable Data Solution for:
– Label Printing
– ID Card Printing
– Bills & Statement Printing
– Direct Mail Printing
-Transpromo Printing